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“Everything about this stinks of a cheap TV movie,” states a cynical podcaster during the horror sequel Influencers. At that point, his tone is dismissive in a calculated way of a guest with an outlandish story he previously said he trusted. But his assessment of what’s happening on screen isn't inaccurate. On its face, a pair of streaming movies about a young woman who insinuates herself into the lives of social media stars and then murders them seems like a modern-day version of a tawdry but cable-ready weekly TV movie. The surprising aspect regarding Influencers remains how much better it is compared to much of the competition, irrespective of screen size. It is precisely the suspense film that should give other movies a serious bout of FOMO.

Revisiting the Original and Establishing the Scene

2022’s Influencer tracks the enigmatic CW (Cassandra Naud) while she methodically selects solo-traveling social media targets, lures them to their deaths, and covers up those deaths (at least temporarily) by seizing control of their online accounts. The film leaves off (spoiler ahead) with CW stranded on a deserted island near the coast of Thailand, after her most recent mark, Madison (Emily Tennant), turns the tables against her.

This lends the 2025 Influencers a degree of mystery, as returning writer-director the director resumes with the character CW contentedly residing alongside her partner Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. On a journey marking the couple’s first anniversary, British influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) draws CW’s eye and anger.

CW comments to Diane that a person ought to attempt stranding a phone-addicted influencer in a place with no technology to see whether they can make it. Are we witnessing an origin-story prequel? Did CW become extremist by seeing the preferential treatment given to one clout-chaser?

Shifting Perspectives and Global Pursuits

The story’s perspective shifts several more times, ultimately revealing those early scenes’ place in the timeline. The story revisits Madison, now exonerated for carrying out CW's offenses, but still faces suspicion over her version of what happened, which includes the murder of her boyfriend. The film also follows Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), living in Bali and trying to boost his profile as half of a conservative-influencer power couple alongside Ariana (Veronica Long), although his preferred medium involves masculine-focused livestreams, as opposed to the Instagram photos that normally capture CW's interest.

The actor continues to be immensely captivating in her role, a role that appears particularly custom-fit to her strengths. (She even created CW's striking outfits.) While the follow-up's screentime balance leans heavily into CW — the original seemed more balanced between the two women — it still functions as a story of dueling amateur detectives, as Madison and CW employ fabricated profiles, social media surveillance, and a seemingly limitless travel fund to pursue or evade each other. Then again, maybe the unlimited budget aren't needed. Online personalities possess a talent for gaining access to posh places without paying much, a skill that CW echoes through her more blatant scheming.

Ingenious Filmmaking and Visual Wanderlust

The creative team for Influencers seem similarly ingenious about finding stunning locations to film, although they were presumably more legitimate in their methods. The vast majority of the film seems to be filmed in real places, providing it a real-world weight that remains even as numerous sequences consist of a handful of actors of people staring at digital devices.

It’s the same principle which allowed the Bond franchise appear so consistently opulent over the years: Indeed, big action and visual effects can show off large spending, however simply offering a kind of visual tour to viewers also feels inherently cinematic. This is especially fitting for a narrative so dependent on the simultaneous surface-level allure and try-hard grind of creating envy-inducing online content.

Every character visiting Bali, similar to those staying in Thailand in the original, seem to have entry to impossibly chic modern bungalows; there are movies concerning beach rescuers that don’t show off as much aerial pool footage. These individuals have to convincingly inhabit these luxurious, far-flung locations to emphasize the uneasy irony of how frequently each person — even the woman wreaking vengeance on the influencers’ self-centered phoniness — nonetheless devotes much time in the glow of their devices.

Nuanced Portrayals and Digital-Age Suspense

Simultaneously, Harder hasn’t authored a rant targeting the vacuousness of online fame. Though it is gratifying to see CW exploit different internet celebrities, and a sense reminiscent of Hitchcock of alignment allows us to hope she doesn’t get caught, the filmmaker is somewhat sympathetic to the key influencer figures. Previously, he keyed into the isolation Madison felt during supposedly envy-worthy vacations. Here, the director appears confident that just observing Jacob at work will make it clear that he is selling false masculinity to other gullible men; he avoids turning into a caricature the character. He even grants Jacob a degree of respect by showing his true devotion to his girlfriend; he is two-faced, but Ariana is a partner in his double standards, not a victim of it.

The flip side of this balanced approach means it may occasionally seem that he is acknowledging elements of contemporary digital culture without deeply exploring them. This is especially true of the way he introduces artificial intelligence into the plot, an intriguing development which misses the psychosexual kick it deserves. The retitled sequel of Influencers could offer devotees of the original hope for an Aliens-style escalation, and the movie does eventually provide exactly that, with an appropriately chaotic climax. However, initially, it’s more like a polished Alfred Hitchcock movie than a wild-eyed, technology-obsessed De Palma-style shocker. Influencers’ extensive use of real-world locations may also be what prevents it from coming across like pure nightmare fuel. The world may be overrun with always-online creators, digital deception, and self-serving tourism, but the world itself is still here, at least for now.